Washington (AFP)

Genetic genealogy, a revolutionary investigative technique that crosses DNA and family trees, made it possible for the first time on Wednesday for an American victim of a miscarriage of justice to be exonerated.

An Idaho state court wholly cleared Christopher Tapp, who spent 20 years in prison for the rape and murder of Angie Dodge in 1996.

"It's a new life, a new beginning, a new world for me and I'm going to enjoy every day," M Tapp, 43, said after the hearing, according to local media.

This decision follows the arrest in May of another man, Brian Dripps, who confessed to committing the crime after being confused by genetic genealogy.

This technique involves comparing a sample of DNA taken from a crime scene with public databases of websites.

In the United States, many people perform DNA tests to find distant cousins ​​and entrust their genetic profile to these sites.

Investigators detain people with DNA profiles close to the one left on the crime scene and trace their family trees to see where they cross, which usually allows them to put a name on the suspect DNA.

This technique allowed the arrest in April 2018 of a man suspected of being the "killer of the Golden State", author of 12 murders and about fifty rapes in California in the 1970s and 80s.

About 70 criminal cases have since been resolved thanks to her.

But this is the first time it serves to clear a person convicted. "It's an incredible feeling to help a man wash his name," said ABC genealogist CeCe Moore, who oversaw the research.

The case against Christopher Tapp, however, had begun to collapse before the use of genetic genealogy.

In 1998, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison solely on the basis of a confession, which he then returned to.

In 2017, he was released from prison under a court agreement, but the murder charge was not dropped.

By the end of 2018, his supporters had obtained the right to use traces of sperm found in the victim's room and genetic genealogy had led them to Brian Dripps.

The latter, who lived in 1996 in front of the young woman, had quickly confessed to the murder.

The County of Bonneville County, Idaho prosecutor had drawn the consequences and requested the cancellation of its procedure, which a judge validated Wednesday.

© 2019 AFP